2013 Chickens - An 8 Week Review

We took our chickens to be butchered on Friday, July 12 after raising them for 55 days (just slightly under 8 weeks). We did a live weighing at 50 days to make sure we were going to make our target weight for butchering. We targeted 6 lbs for our dressed (processed ready to be cooked) chicken weight which is on average about 2 lbs. larger than the chickens you can normal buy in the grocery store. We feel the chickens just taste better and are a better value to our customers at that size than a smaller, younger chicken.  We took the chickens to be processed at Martzahn's Farm Poultry Processing in Greene, Iowa. Martzhans' do a great job and the birds always look great when we take them home. The facility is Iowa state inspected ( a State of Iowa meat inspector is one site watching and inspecting each chicken that is butchered) so we always know when our birds are done being processed they are of the highest quality and have passed rigorous standards. They also do a great job offering additional services like custom bagging and cut-up chicken. I would recommend them to anyone wanting to have their poultry processed. After processing we went about weighing, separating and delivering the chicken to our customers. Below are a few quick facts about this batch of chickens for those interested:

• Started with 291 baby chicks, 272 made it to processing
• During the 55 days the chickens ate 4500 lbs. of feed or about 2.25 tons for those doing quick math. (This year I implemented a wagon and bulk bin system so I didn't have to carry all that feed in 50 lbs. bags :)
• During the last three weeks the birds drank on average 53 gallons of water in a 24 hour period
• We used 15 bags of large wood shavings for bedding during the 55 days
• Our dressed chickens weighed an average of 5.95lbs (we hit our goal almost right on the nose)

Overall, the first batch of chickens for 2013 went extremely well!   Both the staff at Martzahn's and the State of Iowa meat inspector commented on how good the birds looked and turned out, which always makes a person feel good.  We still have chicken available so if you are interested in purchasing some feel free to call (515-460-3464), email me at aelling@springcreekfarm.net or contacting me through the Contact Us page..